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Luke Flatt Elected Vice Chairman of Georgia Bankers Association

Staff Report From Albany CEO

Wednesday, July 10th, 2019

Members of the Georgia Bankers Association (GBA) have elected and installed officers and ten new members to its board of directors for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.

Chuck Copeland, president and CEO of First National Bank of Griffin, was installed as the 130thChairman of the Georgia Bankers Association. Members elected Spence Mullis, president and CEO, Morris Bank, Dublin, as Chairman Elect and Luke Flatt, chairman, president and CEO, AB&T, Albany, as Vice Chairman. Brad Barber, president and CEO of First National Bank, Bainbridge, has been elected to serve as Secretary/Treasurer for a three-year term.

“I’m incredibly humbled and honored to be elected by my peers to serve as GBA Chairman,” Copeland said. “It is a privilege to lead this organization in an industry that I love so much. As chairman, my focus will be on community building, as this is where banking’s strength lies and where we’ll get the preservation, regeneration and growth of our industry.”

In addition, 10 new board members representing the association’s geographic divisions have been elected by their peers, appointed to At Large positions, or will serve in designated positions:

  • Group 2: Susan Vann Moss, president and CEO, Planters and Citizens Bank, Camilla

  • Group 4: Charles Sweat, president and CEO, First Peoples Bank, Pine Mountain

  • Group 6: Chuck Haley, president and CEO, The Peoples Bank, Eatonton

  • Group 8: Daryn Russell, president and CEO, Commercial Banking Company, Valdosta

  • Group 10: Ed Pope, president and CEO, F&M Bank, Washington.

  • At-Large: Bill Walker, president and CEO, Legacy State Bank, Loganville

  • At-Large: Darron Burnette, South Georgia / North Florida division CEO, Synovus Bank, Statesboro

  • Chris Edwards, president, United Bank Corporation, Zebulon, who will become chair of GBA Services Inc., will serve as the subsidiary’s representative to the Board.

  • Rhodes McLanahan, president and CEO, First American Bank & Trust Company, Athens, will serve on the Board as chair of the Community Bankers Committee.

  • Andrew Ainslie, VP/commercial lender, Bank of Madison, and president of the Leadership GBA Executive Committee, is that group’s representative to the Board.